Family of Hunter Marr, 9, want answers after he died the day after being sent home from Mater Children's Hospital

THE Queensland Coroner will investigate the death of a nine-year-old Gold Coast boy, who died at home not long after being discharged from hospital.

Hunter Marr died on Monday, 19 hours after being treated for breathing difficulties at the Mater Children's Hospital in Brisbane.

The hospital has expressed its sympathy to the family and said in a statement: "As would be the case with any unexpected clinical outcome, Mater will conduct a thorough and detailed review into the care and treatment provided to Hunter while he was at Mater Childrens Hospital."

Earlier, The Courier-Mail reported the parents of a boy, 9, are demanding answers after he died on Monday, the morning after being discharged from a Brisbane hospital.

Hunter Marr died at his Ormeau home, less than a day after being released from the Mater Children's, where he was being treated for breathing difficulties.

His death is under investigation by the coroner and the Mater.

The little boy's father Matthew said he had pleaded with Mater staff not to discharge his son, who was still coughing badly and struggling to breathe in the hours before he left hospital.

``I begged them,'' Mr Marr said, his voice choking with emotion. ``I was saying: `I don't think we've seen the worst of this yet'. He was still in danger. He'd been coughing for two and a half hours non-stop. He couldn't breathe properly.

``If he was still there, if they didn't discharge him, if they'd listened to me, we wouldn't be here.''

The Mater yesterday offered its sympathy to the family but refused to answer detailed questions from The Courier-Mail.

In a further tragic twist, Mr Marr says the Queensland Ambulance Service has admitted to him it took 19 minutes for paramedics to arrive after the family's 8.22am triple-0 call.

``My wife and I did CPR for 20 minutes on my boy … we begged them to come faster,'' he said.

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Mr Marr and his wife Michelle, who have two other sons, Jasper, 17 months, and Mitchell, 10, have been told a preliminary finding from an autopsy on Wednesday showed Hunter died of asthma. Some test results are still pending and may not be available for months.

They said their middle son, who hoped to one day design computer games, had been in the Mater Children's in mid-2011 with similar respiratory problems after developing a virus but was an otherwise healthy schoolboy.

On that occasion, the hospital had discharged Hunter from the emergency department but after deteriorating two days later, he was admitted to the intensive care ward on life support.

He recovered but remained an outpatient of the Mater Children's respiratory clinic until late 2012. After having no further episodes, doctors released him from the hospital's care without medication because he was "no longer classed as asthmatic''.

In his latest admission, the Marrs claim Hunter was never examined by a respiratory specialist, despite spending three nights in the hospital.

His discharge summary shows he was under the care of paediatricians rather than a specialist respiratory physician.

Adding to the family's grief, they say Hunter's medical notes fail to record crucial details of his last hours at the Mater.

"I had buzzed the nurse five times because he was having problems on the Saturday night," Mr Marr said. "They didn't even record that. That is patient history…if they're missing things in the chart, they haven't got a full picture."

The QAS joined the Mater in offering condolences to the family but avoided detailed questions about Hunter's care because the case was before the coroner.

Mater Health Services executive director Sean Hubbard said the hospital would conduct a thorough review. But the Marrs have called for an independent investigation.

- additional reporting by AAP

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"I will be chasing justice, why the Mater discharged him against my wishes, why the ambulance took 20 minutes to get there and why the records are incomplete," Mr Marr said.

Asthma claimed the lives of 378 Australians in 2011, according to the National Asthma Council of Australia.

The Marrs' grief has triggered an outpouring of generosity with a Go Fund Me fund-raising page already collecting $10,500 to help the family with funeral and ongoing costs.

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